The Legend of the Jedi Queen

74. Escape from Mortis

DON'T TOUCH ME.

Rey heard the echo from across the galaxy as she punched in the coordinates of the Millennium Falcon.

"Did you hear that?" Rey asked.

"No," Ben admitted.

"I heard Nellith's voice," Rey said. "It was like an echo in the Force. She was screaming for someone to not touch her."

She felt a flare of anger like a wave of wildfire splashing out. Ben's fingers tightened on the armrests.

"We need to get there now," Ben said. "He's hurting her, I just know it."

He then frowned. "I feel it. . . I feel her. . . Something's been taken from her."

"What?" Rey asked, on the edge of her seat.

"I don't know," Ben admitted. "Something terrible has happened."

Rey slammed in the coordinates and shifted to hyperspace. She checked the estimated time. "Well, we've got three hours to figure it out."

Tallis hesitated before backing away. He turned to Abeloth, standing up straight.

"Are you happy now?" he demanded. "I can't feel the light anymore! She can't feel the dark! We've lost so much so you can stop your tirades! Will you finally stop?"

"Stop?" Abeloth began to laugh. "When the galaxy can worship us as the new gods?"

"No," Tallis said. "We're no gods."

"I'm surprised," Abeloth said. "The Dark is supposed to be greedy, power-hungry, ambitious. Where is your ambition?"

"My dreams all died when you took me," he said, his eyes turning yellow as he glared at her. "My ambition was to be a Jedi. To save other people. But you wanted me as your emperor, as your new son. You tortured me, and expected me to turn."

"But you did turn," Abeloth said, a smug grin on her face.

"Not for you," Tallis said, his voice quiet. "Never for you."

Nellith looked up, sensing the walls finally breaking down as one pinprick of light emerged, one last shred of resistance against the shadows consuming his soul. And how it shined so brightly against the darkness. Tallis had one light left, that no one could vanquish. And in that moment of seeing what was truly there, she knew what he was going to do.

Black lightning emerged from his hands as red lightning emerged from the dark tentacles in the Force Abeloth wielded. But he was a match for Abeloth.

"Daughter! You must temper the Son!" Abeloth cried, her face twisted in a grimace of fear. "It is your destiny, to keep him from rising against me!"

And the last shadow Nellith had within her rose in her unholy anger. She shook her head serenely, however.

"You don't decide my destiny," Nellith said. "Only the Force does that."

And she let the rocks fly.

Temporarily burned and buried, Tallis turned to Nellith and took her hand.

"We need to run," he said.

The Millennium Falcon touched down beside the Imperial shuttle. Upon stepping onto the pavilion, Ben immediately sensed his daughter.

"I can see what happened," Ben said, turning to Rey and Chewbacca. "No darkness."

"She's never been truly dark," Rey said, confused.

"But her light has always cast a shadow," Ben said. "One she resisted and tempered. . . But still there. Now it's gone, as if it's been taken. And there's something else. . ."

It was in that moment that Tallis and Nellith burst through the trees. The dark and the light radiated off of them so powerfully, both Ben and Rey nearly fainted from the overwhelming strength of it.

"Mum! Dad!" Nellith cried, hugging them, before she cried out and Rey released her suddenly. Rey tried to reach for her daughter, but Nellith raised her hands in a protective gesture, before backing away.

"What's wrong? What's happened?" Rey asked.

"No time," Tallis said. "We need to destroy the ship so Abeloth can't get off this place."

"Can we trust him?" Ben asked Nellith.

"Yes," she said. "We have to. Now, hurry, she won't be deterred for long."

Rey exchanged a glance before the two ignited their lightsabers.

"Get on the ship with Chewie," Rey ordered. "We'll talk on the trip home."

The two young teens nodded as they followed the Wookiee onboard the Millennium Falcon. Rey and Ben surveyed the shuttle for only a moment, before making short work of it. Just as they had finished slicing up the engine beyond repair, they heard the yell.

"MY CHILDREN!" Abeloth screamed as she exited the clearing. Her mouth had changed, revealing a pointy-toothed grin too long for a human jawline.

"Go! Go!" Ben yelled.

Rey grabbed his arm. "We're leaving together, come on!"

The Falcon hovered above, the landing ramp still open.

Rey and Ben, using the Force to augment their athletic ability, started running up the smoking heap of metal that was once the Imperial shuttle. Abeloth yowled and her tentacles extended, reaching for the man and woman she had once coveted for their power.

The two jumped from atop the heap, their leap longer and more graceful than any ordinary human's as they soared inches above the tentacle and into the loading ramp of the Falcon. The ramp closed hastily behind them, and then the ship jumped into hyperspace.

Rey propped herself up on her elbows, panting heavily. She looked to Ben.

"You okay?" she asked.

He sat up. "I'll live."

Rey sat up herself as the two sat there for a moment. Nothing needed to be said. They both knew what the other was thinking. Ben then stood up, and offered his hand to Rey.

"Time to interrogate our daughter's boyfriend," he said. "I never thought this day would come."

A smirk played at the corner of Rey's mouth. "Neither did I."